Thanks For Cool Stunts in “Salt” Go To New York Taxpayers

Published July 20, 2010•Updated on May 30, 2012 at 2:42 pm

Should director Phillip Noyce win awards for his action-thriller "Salt," he'll have to remember to thank the taxpayers of New York.

Noyce says they wouldn't have been able to complete some of the intricate action scenes without an amazing stretch of tax-payer funded highways near the state capitol of Albany.

Rather than the impossibility of shutting down freeways near Washington DC, the filmmakers tapped into this rich supply of roadways.

"Due to excessive pork barreling over the years, the capital of New York has built up the most elaborate freeway system you have ever seen," Noyce said at a screening of the film on Monday night.

There was even "one overpass to nowhere which just stopped," he added with a little surprise. While clearly a symbol of taxpayer waste, Noyce had to admit: "It was really convenient to one (movie) sequence," he said. "It's a tragedy (for taxpayers) but great for filming."

Indeed, the film is impressive in its use of the freeway as a supporting character in one memorable action scene for the film opening Friday. Noyce almost seems to show off the freeway action having Angelina Jolie jump from one speeding truck to the next and then onto a motorcycle as she tries to escape gunmen.

The fact that it wasn't shot in Washington DC -- where the movie takes place -- was only a minor detail after having the highways to shoot the scene.